By Martin Banks - 1st December 2011
We've not seen any leadership here
Oxfam
The EU has been accused of being "sidelined" at a key global conference on aid effectiveness in South Korea this week.
The EU is the world's biggest aid donor, giving over €53bn a year to developing countries, or over 50 per cent of global aid.
The three-day summit, in Busan, concluded on Thursday and was the first time in history that civil society organisations were official partners at the negotiating table alongside governments and donors.
But leading charities and NGOs united in condemning the outcome and, in particular, the role played by the EU and its representatives in Korea.
Leading the criticism was Justin Kilcullen, president of the group, Concord, who said, "The EU was a ghost at the summit."
"Despite contributing €53bn to development aid a year, the EU allowed a watered down agreement on global aid reform to accommodate geopolitical agendas.
"European member states were fragmented and EU leadership suffered.
"We are concerned that several important measures such as cooperation between developing countries - south south cooperation - ended up only being proposed on a voluntary basis as the final outcome document reveals.
"If the EU had of stepped up its game, Busan could have delivered stronger results for global development."
He added, "We are deeply disappointed by the aid summit. Negotiations are stalling as political games between large powers are dominating talks.
"But this summit is about working out policies to end world poverty. Given that 84 per cent of Europeans showed support development aid, despite the financial crisis in a survey just last week, the EU has its citizens on board to stand up for ambitious reforms at the summit."
He said that while he believes EU commissioner Andris Piebalgs and member states "do care" about poverty eradication they "need to show this to Europe and the world through their commitments here".
Further condemnation came from Oxfam spokesperson Farida Bena, who said, "This is a time to make the aid the EU gives better, not worse.
"We've not seen any leadership here and are hugely disappointed at the EU's lack of leadership. The EU has not been constructive - it should have supported efforts to improve the effectiveness of European aid.”
Her comments were echoed by Timo Lappalainen, of Finnish NGO organisation KEPA, who said, "We European CSOs now have a mountain to climb over to push the EU take an active role."
